Madrid Day 4 22 Nov, 06 - 22:23

This is a short one. The equipment has been delivered to Spainair for air freight to Tenerife tommorow.
The transition from Swedish to Spanish has been finally made. It is indeed a minefield of J pronounced as a Y and H, O as E, Y as a J, V as a B, E as an A... and list goes on..
The brain has been debugged and should be clear sailing from now on.
We leave for Tenerife tommorow. More tommorow.
B
TODAYS PHOTOS -
1. Streets around Tribunal

2. Playing basketball for a change

3. Madrid by night

Madrid Day 3 21 Nov, 06 - 9.24

We got the rest of the equipment today from Iridium Systems
and FNAC. All set to go and looking forward to La Gomera.
Now what are the chances of turning up in a city and finding out that some one you met with briefly 4 years ago, lived 200 yards away from your apartment?
After finishing our days work, it was a pleasant surprise to meet John Perring, who happened to be working across the floor from me at Reliance Infocomm on the branding and retail design for WebWorld.
He now runs a design company and a wine yard in Madrid and by the looks of his apartment, he is very good at what he does, along with
being the best guide to all the Tapas bars around Tribunal.
Tribunal is best described as the SOHO of Madrid, lots of art
shops and great Tapas bars, about 10 mins walk from the
center. Worth a peek next time you are in Madrid.
Our tour of Tapas bars ended at 5.00 am topped of by fried eggs, blood sausage and wine from Johns own wine yard.
A side note for the tecchie people like me reading this, earlier in the day I found something I had been searching for over the past 2 years. A wireless 2.5" network hard disk with an FTP and Access Point built in. Perfect home file sharing network. Just what the doctor ordered. Check it out on www.conceptronic.net
TODAYS PHOTOS -
1. My morning run down Grand Via

2. An old Tapas bar around Tribunal. Johns recommendation.

3. Dinner with John & Pablo et al.

Madrid Day 2 20 Nov, 06 - 16:14

I’m usually quite confident of my navigation skills - thats until I
got lost in Madrid during my morning jog and ended up in the
Chinese part of the city, with Chinese supermarkets and Levis
for $5. They even had an Interflora shop selling plastic flowers to
complete the realistic Beijing experience. This is not the kind of
place you could possibly find on purpose.
In my defence however, I was listening to my ipod while running, so
wasn’t paying much attention to the city as I ran thru it. To their credit, it was worth every bit of the detour just to hear them speak Spanish with a Chinese accent.
We were due to pick up our equipment at 2.00 pm from Iridium Systems, so the better part of the morning was spent jogging around in a circle from Tribunal, down Grand Via past the Templo de Debold (a 16th century Egyptian sun temple) and Palacio (the Royal
Palace, which seems more like a low budget version of the
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg), Embajadores and back to
Sol (the Piccadilly circus of Madrid). Far more scenic
run than the average session at the gym.
We turned up to collect the equipment, only to find out that only
half had arrived today and we would have to wait for the rest to
be cleared tomorrow. Customs bureaucracy at its finest. On the way back, we managed to pick up a game of street basketball, near
Embajadores, making a refreshing change from rowing.
TODAYS PHOTOS -
1. Templo de Debold

2. Chinatown

3. The Royal Palace 

Madrid Day 1 19 Nov, 06 - 21.24

We arrived in Madrid this afternoon, dragging 40 kilos of luggage including 22 kilos of Protein powder. A last few bits of equipment to pick up before I meet with Pavel Rezvoy in La Gomera. We have found its far quicker and easier to carry things into the Canary Island via air than getting it shipped across by a freight company. The customs at the Canary Islands combined with their tendency for extra long siestas in the islands make getting anything shipped across a nightmare. While Stockholm city seems to be planned by someone with a ruler and a pencil, Madrid city seems to have been put together by a 5 year old with a box of crayons. Its chaotic, colourful and its got a great buzz to it.
Tenerife and La Gomera the day after.
The Contact 3. system, used to maintain this blog via satellite phone, is working swimmingly well, thanks to the team at Exploretech.
To recieve an email alert as soon as a new updated is posted, click on the link below.
http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/bhavik/newsletter/index.php
TODAYS PHOTOS -
1. Gran Via, Madrid

2. Apartment Block

3. Gran Via South

Oslo - Madrid 19 Nov, 06 - 08.10

1000 swedish crowns for a flight from Stockholm to Oslo. 500 Swedish crowns for a taxi to the airport. Living in the Nordics can be such fun.
A brief visit to Oslo today for some work and an evening flight to Madrid. Oslo, situated by Oslo Fjord is one of the nicest cities in Europe, though not the cheapest. Its rather entertaining to watch the Norwegians travelling across the border for cheaper shopping in 'Sweden'. Almost like going from McDonalds to Burger King in search of a healthy meal
TODAYS PHOTO - Oslo Fjord

Ulfsunda Slott - Good bye Stockholm 18 Nov, 06 - 15.30

My last night in Stockholm for what will be the next 4 months. So far, on schedule. A close friends birthday at Ulfsunda Castle and then straight to the airport for Oslo. Ulfsunda Castle is about 20 minutes outside stockholm city near Bromma. The Castle was built during the years 1644 -1647 by one of the premier Swedish generals during the 30 year war; Lennart Torstensson.
TODAYS PHOTO - Ulfsunda Slott

Canary Current 12 Nov, 06 - 3:24

By this time, the trade winds have begun to settle in quite well and Nov 28 has been forcasted as the best possible time to leave. We expect cold weather for the first few weeks, due to the cold water Canary current. At this time of the year however, we expect also the currents to be at their peak strength, which should make for a faster crossing. Seems like a few cold days at sea will have to be the trade off.
The Canary Current flows along the African coast from north to south between 30°N and 10°N and offshore to 20°W. Like other eastern boundary currents, it is wide (1000 km) and slow (10-30 cm s-1), and it flows year-round towards the equator. Its surface waters are relatively cool because as it travels south it entrains upwelled water from the coast (Mittelstaedt 1991). On average, the current is about 500 m deep (Wooster et al. 1976) and flows at a speed of 10-15 cm s-1 (Zhou et al. 2000). The Canary Island Archipelago reaches depths of more than 3000 m and thus forms an obstacle to the flow of the Canary Current (Barton et al. 2000).
The Canary Current system contains coastal upwelling, filaments, and eddies (Johnson and Stevens 2000). Eddies with length scales of 100 to 300 km form along the coastal boundary of the current. The eddy kinetic energy values for the Canary Current are less than 100 cm2 s2.
A branch of the Azores Current joins the Canary Current along the continental slope between the Madeira Plateau and the Canary Islands.
Its core velocity can be more than 75 cm s-1 as it passes through the Canary archipelago. It moves parallel to the coastline up to 20°N, forming cyclonic gyres on the shelf along the way. When the current reaches the area of 15°N, it begins to flow west under the influence of the Equatorial Countercurrent. Although the two currents flow in the same direction, they do so at different speeds; this causes two anti-cyclonic gyres to form at the border between them. In spring the Canary Current weakens along with the trade winds, while the Equatorial Countercurrent strengthens. An anti-cyclonic gyre forms to the west of the current. The summer brings about further weakening of the trade winds, and this reduces the water inflow from the north. The Canary Current weakens further and spreads outward from the coast. The cyclonic gyres on the shelf weaken or disappear completely. The Equatorial Countercurrent, on the other hand, is at its peak and shifts north, separating the Canary Current from the coast. During autumn the Canary Current is at its weakest, but some of its characteristics are very similar to those during winter. The current passes through the Canary archipelago, the influence of the Equatorial Countercurrent is the same as in winter, and the strong cyclonic gyres form once again.
From RSMAS, Miami, Edu.
TODAYS PHOTO - The Canary Current

On Schedule 11 Nov, 06 - 12:55

So far we are on schedule. I will be joined by the land team, Kennith Crutchlow, Tatiana Rezvoy and Graham Walters on the 28th of November. Pavel Rezvoy will be meeting me on the 22nd in La Gomera for a few last minute checks on the watermaker and electrics.
Thanks again to Fredrik, Bernhard, Anders and the rest of the team at PowerBar in Germany, our official suppliers of sports nutrition.
Based on Rune's experience and my calculations, the protein requirements will be 250 gms per day, based on rowing in 12-14 hours a day. Thats a half kg pack of protein every 2 days for 90 days. Hope the kidneys keep up.
More soon.
B
TODAYS PHOTO - Protein being packed.

PowerBar Fitmaxx

Waiting for Argos 07 Nov, 06 - 16:14

Its been a long summer for all of us. The last four months have been spent back again in Sweden training while we wait for the hurricane season to end. The average routine consisting 15 km cycling, followed by rowing 10,000 meters and weights.
Unfortunately, the Argos satellite tracking beacons has not been as healthy as me. It has to be returned to CLS in France to replaced by new ones due to weak batteries. The rechargable battries on the beacons have a shelf life of about 90 days after which they need to be replaced. Argos beacon has a distress signal, which will act as a backup to the EPIRB, which is an emergency beacon, an essential piece of the life saving equipment on board. The Argos beacon will transmit my daily position and distance travelled, which can be seen on the progress map in the "latest positions" part of the website.
In the meantime, Pavel Rezvoy is expected to be La Gomera on the 21st followed by the land team from ORS HQ in London on the 27th. Launch date is set for 28th of Nov.
TODAYS PHOTO:
1. The State of my hand, after rowing an 20,000 meters in the gym. Fortunately, present loss of feeling in my hands is keeping the pain away.
2. Summer in Stockholm

New Schedule Update 06 Nov, 06 - 16:14

Welcome back!
We are currently awaiting the delivery of Argos tracking beacons from CLS in France. The schedule for next week is
Oct 29 - Tolouse / Paris - changed schedule
Nov 10 - London - Barcelona - Tenerife
Nov 12 - La Gomera
Nov 28 - Departure
We will resume updating this website on a daily basis.
TODAYS PHOTO - Stureplan, Stockholm. Its back to 5 hrs of daylight again in the Nordics for the next 4 moths.